Shopping for new video card(s)

A while back, I started a thread where I was asking for opinions on a video card upgrade (that thread can be found at this link). Well, things have changed a bit... Nvidia has recently released the 500 series. The 580 is WAY out of my price range, but the GTX570 is looking pretty good, but it looks like a pair of 1gb GTX460s in SLI continue to wow the enthusiast community by outperforming a GTX570 in most real-world gaming benchmarks. I try to look at real-world gaming results over things like 3DM06/11 or Vantage or other "synthetic" benches simply because that's where performance really counts, is in the real games. Soooo . . . . what's the verdict . . . wuddayallthink? A pair of 1gb GTX460s in SLI, or the single GTX570?

(I doubt I'll have the money to add a 2nd 570 for quite some time, but that's still a big plus with the single card, and I'm pretty sure my PSU can handle two 570s in SLI without any problems; to make things more difficult, Nvidia will be releasing a GTX560 some time in Q1 2011, but that could be as late as March or April, and since I just sold one of the GTX260 cards that I was running in SLI, I'm ready to upgrade ASAP, like before Dec31)

If anyone is interested in buying a factory OCed Zotac GTX260 in great condition, send me a PM after reading my thread in the Buy-Sell-Trade forum. Pricing is flexible.

 

Hey dlb,

I'm very satisfied with my GTX 470. Personally, I think if you're going to go for a 400 series to SLI later, get a 470. They're not a helluva lot more than a 460, and two 470s SLI would be better I think for future planning... in my opinion.

Two 460s are great with current games, but think a year or two into the future. I started out with a 465, and come to find out the particular 465 I had was NOT designed properly and failed after a few months of use for me and many others (and it was an MSI card).

I did some research and read a lot of reviews before selecting this 470. Here's the one I bought, and I bought it with the thought of using two in SLI in a year or two.

Personally, I don't think the 500 series have been out long enough to determine longevity, reliability, etc. yet... but again, just my opinion. Plus, with any new computer technology, they're currently priced beyond what they will be 6 months from now.

 

Hey, when you get the 570 let us know how it runs as that's a long ways away for me. I've got enough heatware, for now.

 

Just to add about my experience with the 470, I can run World of Warcraft: Cataclysm on ultra settings and get something like 65 FPS, even if I'm outputting to both of my LCDs (one 24" widescreen and one 47" widescreen) at 1080p. Also, I have to say that WoW's latest expansion REALLY stepped up their graphics... shading, color bit depth, etc.

If you can afford another 570 in a year or two though... that might be good. If you will even need a second. I just don't trust the absolute latest technology until it's been out a little while, and this 470 kicks some butt.

 

LOL That's where I'm leaning now, is the GTX570. While the pair of GTX460 1gb cards generally outperforms the GTX570, it's not by much, and I've spent the past 2 days reading every review on the 570 that I can find, and it looks like the 570 is the way to go. It's a BEAST of a card, and it actually runs cooler than the GTX470/480 (by at least 10c in an extended FurMark session). I know they will be cheaper in 6 months (probably more like 2 months), but now that my SLI is gone (I sold one of my GTX260s), I'm in need of some power. The 470 is about $100 less than a 570, so I'm still kind of thinking about a 470, but unless I can get a rockin' deal on a pair of 460s, they are probably out of the picture. However, if I still haven't made a purchase after Jan 1, I have a feeling that some serious price breaks will hit the "old" GTX460s. They're all under $180 (with rebates) right now; if they drop to $150 or less, then I'll get 'em. Right now, it's a toss-up between the 470 and 570, and there's a very possibility that I'll have the money to get TWO of the 470s at the same time, so we'll see what happens in the next week or so.

@ mcsmc: that particular GTX470 you linked to is sweeeet! I like the cooler on it. That's actually one thing that is really affecting my decision making process is temperature. The 470 that I'm looking at is the Palit with dual fans since I can get it for about $240 (I work at a PC store so I can get stuff cheaper than most LOL).

Any other input is GREATLY appreciated and totally encouraged!

(I'm just glad that nobody has told me to buy an AMD/ATI card! roflmao)

 

What you have to think about though, is that card I have is factory OC'd and runs cooler than stock 470s with its particular cooling arrangement!

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do though... haven't looked into the 570s yet myself. Since I'm building a new computer when I get my tax return, I MIGHT just get a 570 for it? I'll have to research. Any links you care to share about the 570 would be great. I was planning on just using this 470 in it. If I were to get a 570, I'd just use this 470 in an HTPC build. Only problem is, I don't know if I want to spend the money on parts for TWO computers.

 

Here's a link to a "review roundup" of the GTX570. Shortly after they hit the market, just about every tech site out there ran a review, and this "roundup" has links to 10 or 15 different reviews....

http://www.ntcompatible.com/news/story/nvidia_geforce_gtx_570_reviews_roundup.html

 

Probably stupid question... but what great advantage does the 570 have over the 470 I have? I could see if mine wasn't factory OCed... but it is. I'm not seeing much of a difference, which surprises me. Comparing the specs, it doesn't seem a big difference... especially for an extra $50.

Am I missing something?

Comparisons:

570 chart

My 470

 

Here's the official specs straight from Nvidia attached as screenshots.... the 570 has specs very similar to the GTX480 but with faster clocks and lower temps... the newer GF110 in the 570 has also been "optimized" over the previous generation GF100 in the 470/480 so it can process instruction sets faster even though it has fewer overall transistors on the die. The bandwidth and fill rate on the 570 are quite a bit higher than the 470 which translates into better performance (higher fill rates and bandwidth do not ALWAYS mean a GPU is better than one with lower figures, but in this comparison they do).

(the first pic is the GTX470, the 2nd is the GTX570)

 

So it really isn't THAT much better... I guess I expected more from a completely new series number. They should've just called them the 490 and 495. :-D

I'll definitely stick with the 470 until they come out with their next series or two.

 

Actually, there's still a chance that a 490/5 may be in the works... the 480 does not take full advantage of the GF100 chip, there's still some cores locked out (I think the GF100 has a max of 512 cores, the 480 uses -you guessed it- 480 of those cores). The reason the 5xx series was named "5xx" is because the GPU is an entirely new chip, so Nvidia went with an entirely new series name.

Well, the choice is down to the pair of 460s or a single 570. The single 470 is out for now. Yeah, this is different than what I said above where I said it was between the 470 and 570, but I have again changed my mind.... It's 460 1gb in SLI vs. the 570....

If I had a GTX470, I'd stick with it too. There's not enough of a performance gain to justify moving out of GTX470 to a 570/580 at the current prices.

 

OK.... the 460 1gb SLI set outperforms the single 570 in just about every test for about the same price (~ $30). However, I can run a single 570 with my remaining GTX260 as a PhysX processor and probably end up outperforming the 460 SLI rig in games with PhysX (BFBC2, Metro2033 for example)... However #2, I know that in 2-3 months, the price of the 570 will have dropped by at least 10%-15% (which is about $35+), but the 460s have more-or-less bottomed out already. So I really am in a quandary right now....

:confused :confused :confused :confused :confused :confused


:cry

 

I'll be buying on Mon/Tues (today is Sat) so ANY input is greatly appreciated!

 

I will also be upgrading my current 20in LCD display (max res 1680x1050) to a 22"-23" (max res 1920x1080), so I think the dual 1gb GTX460 SLI rig is the way to go; they provide higher frame rates at higher resolutions when compared to a single GTX570 (or GTX470). But with the single 570, there's the extra empty slot left for a 2nd one some time in the future . . . . OH MAN!! I AM SO C O N F U S E D ! ! ! !
:confused :cry :confused :cry :confused :cry :confused :cry :confused :cry :confused :cry

HELP!!!!!

 

Hehehe dlb, here's some new real life info I just found out about the 580. Again, this is only folding info but reflects the shader capability of the card which is also extremely important in gaming.

460 = 11.5K
470 = 12.5K
580 = 17K

I hope I helped a bit since your purchase is imminent

 

Just go with the 570. Be our guinea pig!

 

Oh yeah, I'm sure he'll want to do the hamster wheel thing. Knowing him, he may just do it!:-D

 

roflmao

It looks like I'll be running the wheel by Thursday with the GTX570!! The fact that I can add a 2nd one (or use my left over 260 for PhysX) was the clincher. It has more-or-less the same performance as a 480 (even surpasses it at times) and it's $150 less than a 480, and about the same as a pair 460s.... The card I'm getting is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133370&cm_re=gtx570-_-14-133-370-_-Product
It has a lifetime warranty if I register it within 90 days. So, my Xmas weekend is gonna be busy shooting stuff and running bechmarks!

Stay tuned!

 

I knew you would.

Great idea getting one with a lifetime warranty. I've heard PNY is a decent brand, though I've never used any of their hardware. Apparently it's not factory OCed? That's the only downfall I see, and hope that OCing it won't mess with the warranty.

 

Most 'modern' warranties cover the card whether it's been OC'd or not. I know the Zotac lifetime warranty covers the card even if the stock cooler has been removed! Of course, the stock cooler must be replaced when shipping it back, but that's a great warranty! I think BFGs lifetime warranty was the same way, back before they went out-of-business.

EDIT - I just spent the past few minutes reading the fine print of the PNY lifetime warranty, and it appears that OCing is NOT covered by the warranty, but it doesn't say so in those exact words. I don't plan on OCing it anyway, so it's not really an issue for me....

 

Hehehe, that's about what I would have done but I balk at $360 per copy.:eek Enjoy your prezzie over Christmas killing thousands of aliens and zombies!:-D